Daphne Matziaraki's film 4.1 Miles captures a day in the life of a Greek Coast Guard Captain whose job is to try to save refugees trying to cross the Aegean Sea. It was featured as a New York Times Op-Doc, won a Student Academy Award, and it’s been nominated for an Oscar.

Talking to peers can be a vital tool for making it through dark times. But what happens when your friends and loved ones aren’t around anymore? That’s the situation for many older gay men in San Francisco, whose community was decimated by the AIDS epidemic of the 1980s and 1990s.

Local filmmaker Amir Soltani was fascinated by the people making a living recycling bottles and cans in his West Oakland neighborhood. So Soltani and his collaborators spent spent seven years following the lives of three recyclers for their documentary “Dogtown Redemption.”

On the March 7th edition of Your Call, we'll have a conversation with filmmakers Erica Jordan and Dianne Griffin, as well as Janet Nudelman from the Breast Cancer Fund. They join us for a conversation on Erica and Dianne's new documentary Painted Nails ​and the cosmetic industry.

The Black Panthers started in North Oakland in the fall of 1966. Their very visible public presence marked a change of pace during the Civil Rights movement - from giving out free breakfast to children to entering the California State Assembly with loaded rifles, shotguns and pistols.

When it comes to locking up young people, the US leads the industrialized world. And though youth incarceration rates have been declining for the last two decades, adult prisons still contain many inmates who entered the system as juveniles with life sentences. These prisoners have grown up and lived their entire adult lives behind bars.

As head of the Catholic Social Justice group network, Sister Simone Campbell, who is a nun, worked for immigration reform, healthcare, and economic justice. In 2010, when the Affordable Care Act was being debated in Congress, she wrote a letter in support of the bill, and was able to get 60 signatures from religious orders in the US on it.

"Finding the Gold Within" is the latest documentary from Berkeley filmmaker Karina Epperlein. The film focuses on the story of six young black men from Akron, Ohio, making the transition from high school to college. They face racism and stereotyping on their journey; but each draws strength from a mutual experience: a mentoring program for adolescents that has taught them confidence and self-respect.

In Marin County the Mill Valley Film Fest is underway. It opens Thursday October 2, and this week we're featuring some of the many local documentary makers in this year’s program.

Today, we explore the film FREE, which follows young dance students at Destiny Arts in Oakland as they navigate harsh realities like abuse, violence, suicide attempts, and absent parents, all while preparing for a big dance performance that compels them to express their innermost fears. Director Suzanne Lafetra came to the studio, to talk about the film. A note to our listeners, this interview contains a description rape.

On the October 1st, 2014 edition of Your Call, we’ll rebroadcast a conversation with makers of Hollow, an interactive documentary that examines the future of rural America through the eyes and voices of those living in McDowell County, West Virginia. Viewers can scroll through and click on photos, videos, and timelines to experience an in-depth portrait of this area and its people. What’s the power of technology to enhance news and storytelling? Join us on the next Your Call with me, Rose Aguilar and you.

Takei was one of the first stars to portray Asian Americans in a positive light on the small screen. But he’s been a role model in other ways too. In 2005, at the age of 68, he came out as gay and became a fierce advocate for marriage equality. He’s also spoken out against the kind of hatred that landed him and his family in the a Japanese-American internment campo during World War II.

In her new film 'To Be Takei', Jennifer Kroot takes a close look at Takei’s life, spanning from his recent activism to his internment as a child. Kroot spoke with KALW's Hana Baba.

Titicut Follies was Frederick Wiseman’s first and most famous documentary movie. The controversial 1967 film details the degrading treatment of patients at a Massachusetts hospital for the criminally insane.

The San Francisco International Film Festival is now in full swing, with over 200 films from all over the world screening in the coming weeks. One of the Bay Area filmmakers featured this year is Jamie Meltzer. His documentary, Informant, follows the evolution of radical activist Brandon Darby who was involved in the high-profile arrest of two fellow activists during the 2008 Republican National Convention.

One of the most imminent effects of climate change is sea level rise – especially in low-lying coastal areas like the San Francisco Bay. To documentarian Claire Schoen, this story isn’t about the science of what’s going to happen. That part is settled. She says the question is how we’re going to adapt.

KALW’s Ben Trefny sat down with Schoen to discuss her latest documentary about climate change, RISE.

Miss Representation is a new film about the rapid proliferation of media in the 21st Century and how it affects young boys and girls. The film notes that the reach of media today is unprecedented and more pervasive than ever before – and it may be presenting a very skewed portrayal of what it means to be female. Women are only 16 percent of the protagonists in movies and, Miss Representation argues, girls are encouraged by ads, TV and films to achieve an unrealistic standard of beauty at younger and younger ages. Here are some girls talking about how images are affecting them:

California is home to the largest U.S. women’s prison, located in Chowchilla. Women represent the fastest growing sector of the prison population nationwide and in the state. And the Habeas Project says about two-thirds of women behind bars report they are survivors of domestic abuse. One of those women was Deborah Peagler.

Peagler says her boyfriend started abusing her shortly after they began dating at age 15. She says he was upset with her because she refused to prostitute herself.